“Many splendid houses are dungeons with respect to spiritual light.
A believer could not bear the thoughts of living in any situation, unless he enjoyed the light of the Sun of Righteousness; and with this any situation is tolerable.
You know the value of this light; and you are favoured with it. Therefore I doubt not your house is a good one.
May you enjoy it more and more, and now you are withdrawn from the noise of the town, and (as I suppose) in some measure from the hurry of business, may your leisure be sanctified, and a sense of the Lord’s presence brighten every hour of your future life.
And may you dwell, as Jacob lodged for one night, at the gate of heaven, till the appointed moment when the gate shall open and let you in, to be forever with the Lord.
In the mean time, you are happy that the Lord has favoured you with many opportunities and advantages of promoting His glory, and the good of His people, and given you a heart to improve them.
I would tell you how it is with me if I could; at the best, it would be an inconsistent account.
I am what I would not, and would what I cannot.
I rejoice and mourn; I stand fast, and am thrown down in the same moment.
I am both rich and poor; I can do nothing, yet I can do all things. I live by miracle.
I am opposed beyond my strength, yet I am not overpowered. I gain when I lose, and I often am a loser by my gains.
In a word, I am a sinner, a vile one; but a sinner believing in the name of Jesus.
I am a silly sheep, but I have a gracious, watchful Shepherd.
I am a dull scholar, but I have a Master who can make the dullest learn.
He still bears with me, He still employs me, He still enables me, He still owns me.
Oh, for a coal of heavenly fire to warm my heart, that I might praise Him as I ought!
As a people, we have much cause of complaint in ourselves, and much cause of thankfulness to Him.
In the main, I hope we are alive, though not as we could wish; our numbers rather increase from year to year, and some flourish. In the ordinances, we are favoured in a measure with his presence.
But, oh, for a day of His power; that His work may run broader and deeper, and the fire of grace spread from heart to heart, till the whole town be in a flame!
To this I hope you will give a hearty Amen, and often remember us in your prayers.”
–John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 6 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1988), 6: 104-105.
